1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to wood bats for striking a baseball, softball or the like that are reinforced around their outer surface and methods for their manufacture. More specifically, the present invention is directed to solid wood bats and methods for making solid wood bats that are reinforced around their periphery from the knob or butt end to the top or outer end with a covering of composite material, including high strength fibers and resin, laminated to the external surface of a wood core. The fiber strands in the barrel portion of the reinforced bat are in the form of a diagonal mesh and the fiber strands in the handle portion are more lengthwise of the bat.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Baseball and softball bats have been constructed of wood since the inception of organized baseball games and leagues. Wood bats have been made using conventional lathe techniques and standard external dimensions have been developed along with standard weight characteristics. Also, hollow aluminum bats have been developed and are used by many younger players and are required by certain regulations relating to certain leagues and age groups. Additionally, hollow plastic bats have been developed which are used by younger age groups for practice and training with the hollow plastic bats being normally used with lightweight hollow plastic balls, rubber balls and the like.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,499,128; 1,611,858; 3,116,926; 3,727,295; 3,779,551; 3,811,596; 3,861,682; 3,955,816; 3,963,239; 4,241,919; 4,744,136; 4,763,899; 4,844,460; and 5,114,144 and Canadian Patent Number 962291 disclose various developments in ball bats.
The primary drawback of solid wood bats is that they are relatively expensive and they frequently break in use. Therefore, substantial efforts have been undertaken over the past many years to develop a reinforced wooden bat which has the desired weight, size, strength, stiffness and flexibility for superior performance characteristics within the allowable weight and size parameters, but has a longer life than either the standard solid wood bat or extruded aluminum bats. For example, approved wood bats can be no more than 2.75 inches in diameter.
One such prior effort is disclosed in Mueller U.S. Pat. No. 3,129,003 in which a fiberglass sleeve is pressed tightly on the handle portion of the wood bat and a plastic coating is applied to the sleeve to fix the sleeve in place. In Baum U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,144, layers of resin impregnated knitted or woven cloth made from high strength fibers are applied to a central core in the shape of a bat made from foamed plastic or extruded aluminum. An outer layer of resin coated wood veneer is applied and the composite is placed within split molds which are pressed together while the resin is allowed to set to form a unitary mass. Costopoulos U.S. Pat. No. 3,598,410 discloses a wooden bat comprised of a plurality of individual laminae spirally wrapped in surface grooves with a high tension multi-fiber filament. Finally, Seki U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,940 discloses a resin injection technique to apply a continuous reinforcing fiber and molding material to the outside surface of a bat core prepared using a meltable material or a foamed resin.
None of the prior art patents, however, discloses a reinforced wood bat having the characteristics of the present invention. Specifically, the prior art does not disclose a reinforced solid wood bat which has a continuous sleeve constructed of high strength fibers resin bonded to substantially its entire outer surface. Further, the prior art does not disclose an arrangement in which a braided sleeve is applied to a solid wood core in at least two layers substantially covering the entire outer surface of the bat. In addition, the prior art does not disclose an arrangement in which a predetermined standard size of wood bat is formed by a cut down wood core having slightly smaller dimensions and a composite high strength sleeve that is bonded to the surf ace of the cut down wood core in order to return the completed bat to the standard dimension size specified for the original wood bat.